Even the paper's sports editor, Mike Sherman, had an issue with the headline.

In a brief online post entitled "Headline over Kevin Durant story missed the mark, Sherman wrote, "We take great pride in our headlines about big sporting events and news in Oklahoma. Thursday’s headline in The Oklahoman on Kevin Durant’s performance in the Memphis series missed the mark.

"The words were overstated and unduly harsh. The headline and presentation left the impression that we were commenting on Durant’s season, career or even character. We were not. We were referring only to the Memphis series.

"The fact the headline and presentation left that impression with so many readers is proof that we failed."

Durant is averaging 28 points per game in the first five games of the Thunder's first-round series against Memphis, which leads the series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday night. He is shooting only 40 percent from the field in the series after shooting 47.9 percent in the regular season.